


Many Faces of Hell

by bitsnbobs



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, mentions of child abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-26
Updated: 2016-10-26
Packaged: 2018-08-27 04:13:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8386795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bitsnbobs/pseuds/bitsnbobs
Summary: Prompted by a comment on tumblr. Dismissing Lachlan as 'just a kid' is not something Robert will do anymore when Aaron's nightmares take a frightening new turn.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> There was a comment on tumblr about whether Aaron's mind could mess things up and where there was Gordon in his nightmares, it is now Lachlan.  
> I thought I would have a go at writing this. 
> 
> Plus- "I know what you did to Alicia and how you made her feel. You don't get to hurt anyone else and walk away." It's not hard to understand why Aaron was upset and I was slightly annoyed that this was kind of just brushed aside.

They had been home a couple of weeks and things felt like they were returning to normal. Normal with a hint of extra special; neither could deny that they played with their engagement rings sometimes and couldn’t help but smile at what it meant.

However, neither could deny that they also had the occasional moment where they were back in that car, in the water and it would take a few seconds to reset themselves and carry on. 

Robert thought that this is what had occurred when Aaron happened to bump into Lachlan in the pub. He thought Aaron’s flinch was because he felt guilty that Lachlan had also been under that water. He thought that Aaron was a better person than he was because Robert felt no guilt over that kid; especially when the kid had escaped and then chose to watch instead of help. But Robert knew his fiancé had a bigger capacity for guilt than most, so he had pulled him close and told him to forget the kid even existed. 

It was later that night when Robert found out the real reason for Aaron’s flinch.

They were asleep, Aaron curled up on one side with Robert’s arm thrown lightly across him as he slept on his stomach beside him. Robert didn’t hear the increasingly distressed murmurs coming from his fiancé’s lips at first but he definitely knew something was wrong when Aaron suddenly threw his arm away and sat up straight, breathing heavily. 

Robert was alert immediately. It had been a while but he knew what this was; he knew Aaron’s nightmares.

He knelt up and scooted across the bed so he was in front of his fiancé. Not touching him quite yet. 

“Aaron. It’s Robert. Aaron, listen to me ok? Just focus on my voice and breathe ok? You’re safe now, alright? I’m here,” Robert started saying his practised words and felt the familiar sense of relief when Aaron looked at him and began to visibly relax. He took that as his cue and reached across and put his hands tenderly on Aaron’s cheeks, wiping away his tears with a thumb. “That’s it. You just breathe, you’re safe now. He can’t get you.”

Robert wasn’t saying anything that he hadn’t said to Aaron before in this situation; he’d found out what worked and what didn’t the hard way. So it was even more shocking when Aaron’s eyes widened and Robert ended up being pushed backwards and off the bed. 

Landing in heap on the floor, Robert could only watch as Aaron backed into a corner.

“He could get me,” Aaron choked out, holding his arms around his middle.

Robert shook his head and stood up, moving closer to Aaron. His heart broke at the distress his fiancé was in. “No, no, Aaron, he can’t. He’s dead remember.”

“No! He’s not!” Aaron cried out desperately.

Robert frowned, an extra worry starting to kick in but working with the thought that it must have been a particularly bad nightmare, he repeated himself, “Aaron, listen to me, Gordon’s gone, ok? He can’t get you.”

Aaron’s eyes darted wildly around the room and then they focussed intensely on Robert. “It wasn’t Gordon,” he sobbed eventually.

The unexpected admission caused Robert’s stomach to drop. “What? Er…what?” he stuttered, desperately wanting to envelop Aaron in a hug and stop the hurt but completely thrown as to how to proceed.

“It wasn’t Gordon,” Aaron told him again, running a hand across his mouth and taking a deep breath in a bid to calm down.

A realisation hit Robert, “Was it…was it the crash?” Perhaps he didn’t know Aaron’s nightmares as well as he thought if new ones had been added to the mix.

Aaron shook his head though and Robert was even more concerned and confused.

“Aaron, what is it? You can tell me anything.”

Robert wasn’t ready for the answer.

“Lachlan,” Aaron sniffed out, eyes fixed on the floor.  
…


	2. Chapter 2

“Lachlan?” Robert repeated unable to hide the surprise in his voice, Aaron looked back up at him with narrowed eyes.

“You think I’m stupid,” Aaron spat out. 

Robert blinked and tried to respond but unable to quite process everything quick enough, he ended up standing alone as Aaron huffed, marched straight passed him and out of the room. 

When he moved to go after him, he bumped into Chas on the landing,

“What’s this about?” Chas asked, pointing downstairs to where her son had gone.

Robert shook his head, “Nightmare.”

Chas’s face fell, “Bad one?”

“A new one,” Robert told her honestly but seeing the worry cross his future mother-in-law’s face, he sighed, “We’ll work through it, ok?”

Chas bit her lip, looked at him and nodded, “You need anything, you come and get me.”

“Right,” Robert agreed, giving her his best soft reassuring smile as he started to descend the stairs. 

Aaron was in the kitchen, gulping down water from a glass, back towards Robert. 

Robert approached slowly, “Aaron, I don’t think you are stupid, ok?”

There was a pause but Aaron placed the glass down and turned. He wiped at his eyes and nodded, “Yeah, I know. I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“Don’t be sorry,” Robert told him, gentle but firm, “I just…I don’t…” He sighed at his inability to ask what he wanted but Aaron closed his eyes and gave him an answer,

“Lachlan was on top of me.”

It was blunt and brutal and Robert felt tears prick at the corners of his eyes. 

“I couldn’t push him off, Robert,” Aaron’s voice broke, “It was like Gordon but it wasn’t…It was Lachlan and I still couldn’t.” He broke down then and Robert launched forwards and caught him in his arms. 

Robert ran a hand down his back and whispered soothing words but truth be told, he was unsure of how to move forwards.


End file.
